A recent publication from the Office for National Statistics has revealed that in September 2010 only 48% of female pensioners received a full Basic State Pension (BSP), compared with 87% of male pensioners. Many women in the current generation of pensioners failed to build up full or near-full BSP entitlement under the system in place before 6th April 2010, mainly because of broken work histories and part-time work patterns.

However, as a result of legislative changes, 95% of women reaching State Pension Age (SPA) in Great Britain in 2030/31 are expected to receive a full BSP.

The purchasing power of the BSP is also set to rise. This is because the Pensions Act 2007 re-linked BSP increases with earnings and in 2010 the Government introduced the ‘triple lock’ policy guaranteeing that BSP will be increased each year by average earnings growth, inflation or 2.5%, whichever is higher.

Nevertheless, DWP modelling suggests that 60% of women reaching SPA in 2016-20 will have state pension entitlements of less than £140 per week in 2011/12 earnings terms.

The release also reveals that active (employee) membership of occupational pension schemes continues to fall:

• The highest number of active members was recorded in 1967, when there were 12.2 million. In 2010 there were 8.3 million active members, the lowest level since the 1950s.
• Since 2004, public sector active membership has overtaken private sector active membership as numbers in the private sector have fallen sharply. In 2010, almost two-thirds of active members were in the public sector.